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Character Matters

I like to be the critic. People from time to time will give a list. They will say, “here are the three things you need to know before you set up a blog,” or, “here are ten things I hate about the Patriots.” Paul gives us that kind of list in Philippians 4:8. Being the critic, I ask, is he choosing the right things when he says, “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Here is the top 8 things you should think about:
1) truth
2) honor
3) justice
4) purity
5) being pleasing to God
6) earning the respect of others (commendable)
7) exampling excellence
8) being worshipful (my translation)
Why eight, not seven or ten? 2), 6), and 8), are a bit too similar. What about simplicity or charity? That Blogger Paul, he’s a real amateur. But here I miss the point. Paul is saying that Christian character matters. We develop character by focusing on the right things. By setting our minds on always being truthful, just, and excellent in our dealings with others. At the end of the day we evaluate ourselves by how well our behavior has matched the character we hope to develop in ourselves.
Today it has become common to make Christianity all about the doctrine. The great theologian Paul, says that character is what really matters. What do you think? More importantly, how do you act?